Hockey season ticket holders fed a pile of hot shit

Submitted by Canadian on
This MSU game at soldier has me irate. I went and did some quick math and am even more pissed off.
Last year the average ticket price for end zone seats equates to $21.05/regular season game (not including 2 exhibition games as games)
This year with the "15% drop" we will be paying $22.67/regular season game.

samdrussBLUE

August 11th, 2014 at 8:34 PM ^

As a (new) season ticket holder (albeit football) it feels like I am the one who is being dooped here. Like the majority of the fans would rather not give for tickets because of all the shit they've been dragged thru. I can only hope something turns around so I will continue to purchase in the future.

Joined: 01/21/2012

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LSAClassOf2000

August 11th, 2014 at 8:58 PM ^

I was actually wondering how they would work this out because the Hockey City Classic is going to be a doubleheader with Michigan / MSU and then Western Michigan / Miami (OH). I haven't seen information yet, but I wonder if there is some sort of discount or exchange (because some of us already have the tickets debited to our cards, Dave) that would come with this game - or as a result of it. It certainly wouldn't be a bad thought, in my opinion. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

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saveferris

August 12th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^

Actually you didn't.  You paid with the expectation that there would be a 2nd home game against MSU.  I guess we know what we got for our 15% discount.  I guess we should've been more skeptical when the Athletic Department announced prices were dropping for this season.  The general consensus was, "Hooray, the AD is starting to get the message that fans think prices are too high and are responding!"  Turns out we just didn't know they were docking us a home game.

Joined: 07/02/2009

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Wolverine Devotee

August 11th, 2014 at 8:42 PM ^

Add this to the annoyance list

  1. That idiotic goal horn. There was NO NEED FOR IT! The Victors after a goal is all I need to hear. 
  2. The idiotic carousel of uniforms. Michigan has worn NINE different jerseys in 3 years, and they just announced another uniform change. 
  3. The atmosphere of Yost not being what it was. Even in 2010-11, it felt completely different than what it is now.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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Wolverine Devotee

August 11th, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^

It annoys the shit out me.

When I buy the jersey, it would be nice for the team to actually, you know, wear it for more than a year?

Not to mention the increase in price.

2010-11: $80

2011-12: $100

new jerseys this year: $120

And for what? You think I'm gonna spend $120 so I can spend more the next year? No. I like the design for this year, but enough is enough. Pick a fucking jersey set and stick with it. 

Look at this. A new jersey every single year with tweaks to the designs every year of the other ones. 

This year (below)

Joined: 06/29/2009

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Bando Calrissian

August 11th, 2014 at 9:53 PM ^

Easy answer: Stop buying jerseys every year.

Look around Yost, and you'll see people wearing all kinds of jerseys from over the years. I've been wearing the same Nike jersey since 2001 or 2. It's not that big of a deal, unless you're addicted to buying a new $120 polyester shirt so you can match what they're wearing on the ice.

Joined: 07/02/2008

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Wolverine Devotee

August 11th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^

This is the first year I bought one since 2011-12 because I grew out of my old Maize jersey. I smartly left the tags on until the jersey word came in so now I can get the new one for an exchange. The only sport I actively buy for is Football. I can't keep up with the big 3 with all these changes due to the costs.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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Wolverine Devotee

August 11th, 2014 at 9:53 PM ^

I had no idea it was going to be around this long. It was there for The Big Chill and then they put it in Yost the following year.

The uniforms from 2008-09 - 2010-11 stayed the same virtually their entire run with a material change later on from the shiny material to cotton mesh. Those were the best uniforms. 

Joined: 06/29/2009

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mGrowOld

August 11th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^

What I think people miss who claim "just win and everything takes care of itself" is that once you piss off your hard core fan base it's very, very hard to get them back. And season ticket holders are the hardest of hard core fans as they are willing to commit to seeing all the games a team plays and not just some of them.  I fear once they're gone....they're gone because they find different ways to spend their money and time instead of watching games and even if they do return - they are highly unlikely to make the same level of game committment they once did.

I don't think we'll truly realize just how much damage Brandon has done to the overall Michigan fan base for several years but I think it's significant.  It's sad.

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The Barwis Effect

August 11th, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^

People wouldn't be as pissed if the hockey and football team were winning. I don't hear too many complaints with regard to basketball, and the ones you do hear pale in comparison to the non-stop bitching about everything and anything football. If we were winning nobody would give a care about Dave Brandon.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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danimal1968

August 12th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^

The only way they could say that is that, pre-1996, the bleachers ran from one end of the building to the other, with close to a whole section of seats disappearing behind the end zone bleachers at each end of the stadium.  It would have been like selling seats to stare into a blank wall.

And speaking as one of the few who regularly attended from 1986 to 1990, good seats were not hard to find.  The MSU games were sold out (because the place would be half full of Sparties) but otherwise they rarely drew more than 4,000 people or so.  It was starting to pick up in 1989-90 and then exploded the year after that.

Joined: 07/13/2008

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Bando Calrissian

August 11th, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^

Tell that to the people who paid for basketball season tickets through the dark ages, then once the team got consistently good, got reseated from their (often decades-long) seating locations. There were a lot of folks who cried foul, and rightfully so.

The Dave Brandon Athletic Department has consistently shown they pretty much don't care about that little thing called loyalty, which is what you get with longtime season ticketholders who tend to stick it out win-or-lose. They're in as long as they're treated well. When they don't, they bail. 

Joined: 07/02/2008

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Canadian

August 11th, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^

I personally went to about 14 of 19 games and my bro and dad took a couple more and sold one on stubhub. So for 17-18 games they had someone driving 60-90 mins and the extra $10 for border crossing so I'd say we fit in as diehard dispute only being season ticket holder for second year. I will still be a fan but there is next to no chance I renew next year.

Joined: 06/02/2012

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funkywolve

August 12th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^

This should be what concerns people the most.  I totally agree with the poster that said once you lose your hard core season ticket holders, it's probably not going to be easy to get them back.  However, the kicker is students aren't going to games with they are at UM, what are the chances they start purchasing season tickets when they are alumni?  I'm guessing the odds are pretty low.

Joined: 10/08/2008

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saveferris

August 12th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^

You're absolutely right.  Once you turn those long-time season ticket holders off and they find other uses for their budget that was set aside to pay for ticket packages, they're gone for good.  Myself, I've been a football season ticket-holder for going on 25 years and a hockey seaosn ticket-holder for over 10 years.  So I'm into the Athletic Department for a good $1700-$1800 a year and I'm on the ragged edge of telling the AD what they can do with their season ticket packages, and once I'm spending that cash on something else, the University isn't getting it back.

Dave Brandon has wrecked what I once thought was unwreckable.  I mean Bill Martin did a lot of things wrong, but he did manage to get the football stadium renovated and the Davidson Center built and was well on his way to getting the Crisler reno done as well....and he did it without completely pissing off the entire fanbase.  It's not like you can't built new facilities and the like and still keep the fans happy.  Jesus!

Joined: 07/02/2009

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Canadian

August 11th, 2014 at 11:46 PM ^

That's $1.62 more per ticket so that's an extra $3.24 per game for my two seats. Not sure the current exchange rate but is guess it's be closer to $3.50/$4 a game extra. Add on another dollar per game for the "application fee" and we're bearing $5 extra for less. This may not seem like a lot but $5 extra for 15 games is an extra $75 over the season.

Joined: 06/02/2012

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25dodgebros

August 11th, 2014 at 9:52 PM ^

I am considering organiizing a class action lawsuit against UM for fraud in the sale of hockey season tickets.  I am UM law grad so there would be some poetic justice involved here.  Any interest in joining/assisting?

Joined: 01/06/2011

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